How Franchise FastLane Serves as a Gas Pedal to Drive Franchise Growth

If there’s anything Franchise FastLane CEO Ryan Zink knows, it’s franchise development. Beginning in 2002, Zink served as the chief operating officer of 15 GNC franchise locations—five of which were among the top-performing in the country—before he started his own company, Complete Nutrition, in 2005. Zink grew his company to five Nebraska-based corporate stores, then began franchising the concept in 2007.

Then in 2009, Zink brought on Carey Gille to drive Franchise development. As a serial entrepreneur, Carey had already co-founded three companies, selling one to financial software company Intuit Inc.

“Our goal was to award 18 locations in the next two years. Instead of awarding 18, we awarded 240,” Zink said. “Eventually, we decided to freeze franchise development to perfect our support systems, supply chain, marketing and more. In December of 2015, we sold Complete Nutrition to private equity firm Dominus Capital.”

After the acquisition, Carey Gille shared with Zink that she was considering franchise consulting as her next move. Realizing that their professional experience and impressive success growing a franchise brand perfectly laid the groundwork for a franchise development business, the two teamed up and launched Franchise FastLane in January 2017. Other key players on the executive leadership team include Zach Butler, who went from Complete Nutrition franchisee to development director to VP, as well as Amy Hawk, Franchise FastLane’s first hire, who now leads Compliance and Mapping.

As a franchise sales organization (or FSO), Franchise FastLane hit the ground running as a turnkey solution for explosive sales growth. The company’s initial clients included Frenchies Modern Nail Care and Monster Tree Service.

“Frenchies had three units when we first started, and Monster Tree had 20,” Zink said. “In the last 18 months, both have awarded over 100 territories.”

Franchise development services

Today, the franchise development company represents 13 franchisors and offers a full development solution including everything from candidate recruitment to managing the development process to consulting on the franchise agreement.

Just looking at the numbers, it’s safe to say that Franchise FastLane’s approach has proven successful and positions the company as an industry leader. But just how does Franchise FastLane drive major growth for its partner brands?

“I was a franchisor myself, and I know how important a meaningful development partnership is. We dedicate an individual [franchise development] director to every brand we serve,” said Zink.

That point of differentiation is significant in an industry that typically assigns multiple brands to any given director.

“Our model is one-to-one. That way, if leads fall off, that development director is directly affected—our development directors are deeply and personally invested in lead flow,” Zink explained. “We also don’t require royalties; we work off of a retainer and earn success fees.”

In addition to the competitive advantage conferred by the company’s director-to-brand ratio, Franchise FastLane also offers ongoing support to offset the internal costs faced by franchisors; support includes scheduling and coordinating Discovery Days, sending out FDDs and overseeing administrative and operational flow. This means that not only do Franchise FastLane’s clients optimize their franchise development budget, but they also minimize the cost of doing business.

“And we minimize risk,” said Gille. “Partnering with us means that a franchisor doesn’t need to invest in an internal franchise development team. Instead, they outsource their development to us, and success fees are only paid after territories are awarded.”

Industry impact and value

For those who may still be unclear on the need for franchise development experts—especially for emerging brands still getting their feet wet—Zink explained that Franchise FastLane serves as an invaluable “gas pedal for franchisors.”

“Emerging brand statistics show that 60 percent of people who inquire about a given franchise opportunity never get any communication back,” Zink said. “We guarantee our franchisors that 100 percent of those who inquire are contacted. That best practice informs our process and it’s why we see such huge results.”

When asked how he feels about the company’s success, Zink was emphatic.

“We’re helping franchisors reach their dreams. Before engaging us, several of our clients were not having success in development and were feeling defeated. After hiring us, those businesses turned from stalled out into rocket ships,” said Zink.

Most recently, Franchise FastLane signed on two brands backed by private equity firms: ComForCare and Care Patrol. In addition to breaking into franchising’s private equity segment, Franchise FastLane has also begun to win awards.

“We know that our service provides millions in value for our brands, and we’re excited to see that celebrated,” Gille said.

So what’s on the horizon for Franchise FastLane in 2019?

The company is targeting 15-20 brand partners by the end of the year while also developing exciting new services.

“We’re exploring a service that allows us to work with franchisors that don’t want 25 or more units a year,” Zink said. “We typically don’t bring clients on unless we think we can grow them by 25 units per year, so we’re working on developing a service for franchisors who only want to grow regionally. We hope to award over 1,000 units by 2020.”

For franchise brands that are ready to move full-speed ahead with their development goals, Franchise FastLane is the turnkey solution to do just that.